The Not-So Little Mermaid
by Pacific Author
Summary: Ursula cast a dark curse on Ariel and her husband, creating her own reality and erasing theirs. And it's worse than anything either of them could ever imagine.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Ariel got to the bottom of the stairs and was startled by Eric taking her hand and twirling her around to face him, then kissed her on the cheek. "I can't believe it's already been three months." he said. Ariel laughed, "It feels like we were married just yesterday." she said with a smile. He picked her up and spun her around. "Stop, Eric, you're going to make dizzy." she said trying to contain her laughter. "The cooks are making breakfast and I'll just change out of my pajamas and then come back downstairs, Okay?" he asked Ariel. "Okay. I think I'll just read my book." she answered. He ran upstairs and she happily walked over to the bookshelf. Then she heard the front doors slam and a maid scream. _What's going on? _she thought. She stepped out, looked around the corner and saw a large purple woman, dressed in a long black dress, with messy, greasy, white hair. Ariel shrieked and tried to run. Ursula grabbed her shoulder "I should've never made that deal with you, you BRAT!" she growled. "What's going on?" Eric shouted running down the stairs. But, it was too late. Ariel and Eric both fell to the ground in a deep sleep. And they would never wake up the same again. "Hahaha! Hahahaha!" Ursula cackled.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Ariel?" Sebastian asked as Ariel was putting on her crown. "Of course not." she replied. "You don't have to do this." he told her. "Yes, I do Sebastian. You don't understand." She turned away and put on the rest of her armor. He shook his head. "You've changed, Ariel." he said. There was a long pause. "A lot of things have changed, Sebastian." she said starting to walk out the door. "It's been 5 years Ariel," he tried to tell her, "Why can't you accept it?". "What would you know Sebastian?" Ariel left the room and exited the castle to see mermaids and people fighting everywhere. The fight lasted for hours, until all the humans had fallen. Then all of the surviving mermaids patted her on the back. "It's over." her best friend, Angel said. "Congratulations." Reagan, her other best friend stood by her and looked at all the bodies. "Do you think we should visit Penny-Fay?" Ariel asked. "Yeah, I think we should." Angel answered. They swam to the hospital. When they arrived at the desk, Reagan spoke to the receptionist, "Hello, may we see Penelope Fay Mito?". "Sure, I'll call her doctor.". They all stood against a wall and waited. "You know what? I think me and Reagan should talk to her, you need to rest, you've been through a lot." Angel offered. "No. I want to talk to her, she's one of my best friends." Ariel argued. "Ok." Angel said. "Queen Ariel, Angelina, and Reagan? Penelope is ready to see you." a nurse said. All four of them swam down the hall and came to Penny's hospital room. The nurse opened the door. Ariel was shocked by what her friend looked like. Her curly hair had calmed, her purple hair dye was wearing off, she wasn't wearing her normal crazy makeup or her bright green colored contacts, she looked so different. "Penny," Angel said, "you look-". "Horrible." Reagan said. "Reagan!" Ariel yelled. "No, it's okay, don't worry about it." Penny said, "Why did you come to visit?". "It's over, Penny, the last battle just ended." Ariel explained. "We might stay here for a while while they bury everyone." Reagan said. "Oh…um…ok…how many…are there?" Penny asked. "I have absolutely no idea." Angel answered, "Thousands, probably more.". "Oh." Penny sighed, "I would ask how you guys have been but, I think I already know.".

"Yeah." Ariel said, sadly. They all sat in silence until Reagan said, "Well this is awkward.". They all laughed. Then, Penny started talking about how mean some of the nurses are and how there were 5 nurses that were really nice and the horrible hospital food and then it was 9:00 p.m. "Lights out girls," a nurse said, "go home, it's time for her to get some rest.". "Bye, Penny, we'll see you tomorrow." Angel said. "Bye." Penny said, lying down. Once she got back to the castle, Ariel walked through the empty castle and remembered what it was like 5 years before, when it was full, a gala every other night, music always playing, and her father, and her sisters, and Flounder, and her collection of random things. She got to her room and took off her crown and armor. She started to sob until she went to sleep. Sebastian heard and had a lot of trouble going to sleep, hearing Ariel so upset.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

A month later, everything was back to normal, or at least as normal as things can be after a three year long war. Angel, Reagan, and Ariel had a regular schedule for visiting Penny, and everything seemed to be fine. Except for Ariel. She felt like she should be happy, but she just wasn't. Every day she sat in her throne, and every day the world seemed to get darker and darker. She only felt happy spending time with her three best friends, everything else just wasn't pleasant in the least. Sebastian tried to help her everyday, "Ariel, maybe you're depressed.". "Maybe." she answered. "Are you feeling sick? Maybe, you have a fever." he suggested. "Maybe." she said again. "Are you going to answer maybe to every question?" he asked, annoyed. "Maybe." she repeated. "Ariel…answer me," he said, more seriously, "what is wrong?". "I don't know Sebastian!" she shouted, then Sebastian just stared at her, "I just feel like something's…missing or something.". "That's normal, you've lost a lot." Sebastian said. "Wow, Sebastian, I didn't know you were my therapist." Ariel said, sarcastically, standing up and swimming away. She came to what Reagan called, "The Hoarder's Paradise". It was one of the only places in the castle that hadn't been damaged in the war. She remembered swimming around, happily when she was sixteen. She remembered being in love with some stupid statue she found. Some prince. As she looked around, her eyes became watery. "I'm not bursting into song again" she told herself. After a long time, just thinking, she finally let herself start to cry. She looked up at the statue. _He seems so happy, _she thought, _what am I doing wrong? Why can't I be happy_. She heard a voice behind her, "I know what you need.". Ariel recognized the voice, but she didn't know where from. She whipped around, "Who are you?". "You may have heard my name before." the voice said. "I've heard lots of names," Ariel replied, "show yourself!". "I'm very famous around here," the voice said, "almost as famous as you…" she felt breath on the back of her neck, "Queen Ariel.". She stood, frozen, "Who are you?" she said, quietly. The voice whispered right into Ariel's ear "Ursula."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

"Ursula…" Ariel whispered to herself, "where did I hear that before?". Sebastian walked in with Ariel's dinner. "Hey, Sebastian?" Ariel sat up and looked at him. "What is it, Ariel?" he asked, setting her dinner on her nightstand. "Have you ever heard of Ursula?" she put the platter next to her on her bed. Sebastian gasped, "Ursula? You mean Ursula the Sea Witch?". "The Sea Witch!" she yelled, "That's where I remembered her name from!". "Anything else?" Sebastian asked. "No, thank you." Ariel replied, picking up her platter and beginning to eat as Sebastian walked out of her room. "Ursula the Sea Witch…" she whispered to herself, trying to remember exactly who she was. She was thinking about it all night, until she fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

"Good morning, Queen Ariel." one of the mer-maids said. Bringing her breakfast on a silver platter. Ariel sat up, groggily, "Oh, good morning, Lacey.". "Did you sleep well?" Lacey asked, setting the platter on the bedside table to Ariel's left. "No, not really." Ariel replied. "Oh, I'm sorry." Lacey said, "Ring the bell if you need anything. I'll make a picnic for you and your friends when you visit Penny.". "Thank you Lacey." Ariel said, picking up the platter, putting it on her lap, and starting to eat. Then her phone rang, "Hello?" she asked. "Ariel, it's Angel, come to the hospital, now, it's Penny." she explained. Ariel slammed her phone down, put the platter to her right, changed out of her pajamas, and rushed out the door. She didn't even put her crown on before she left.

She swung the doors open and swam as fast as she could, out of breath, to the front desk. "I'm here for Penelope-Fay Mi-". She was interrupted by Angel and Reagan bursting through two doors and swimming quickly to Ariel. In between gasps, Reagan managed to say, "This way." then they all swam to Penny's hospital room. There was one doctor and a few nurses, Penny was wearing an oxygen mask. But the doctor and nurses seemed to be calmer than when Reagan and Angel had visited. "What's going on?" Reagan asked, worried. It was the first time Ariel or Angel had ever seen that look on her face. She looked concerned…even scared. "We tried." the doctor said. He took a second for them to process, "I'm so sorry.". Angel burst into tears, and shortly after Angel, so did Ariel. Reagan's bottom lip began to quiver, and tears fell from her eyes one by one before she finally just let herself cry.

After a while, they all where sitting in the waiting room. "How did it even start?" Ariel asked. "A lot of things. The human who attacked her punctured her lung, there was also a lot of internal bleeding." Reagan explained. "Oh…ok." I said. We all sat in silence. "Do you think we should go home?" Angel asked. "Yeah." Reagan said. The three girls swam to Ariel's castle and after sitting in silence for a couple hours, just thinking. Then they all fell asleep on her couches.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

The night that Penny died, after Reagan and Angel had left, Ariel was feeling very upset. She would've done anything to get Penny back…anything. She ran to the bookshelf and found a spell book. She looked in the table of contents for a resurrecting spell, she couldn't find one. She dropped the book and began to bawl. "Don't cry my dear." she heard Ursula's voice saying, she whipped around, but she was alone. "I have what you need.". She suddenly stopped crying and she felt something pulling her towards a cave near the castle.

The cave was pitch black, she couldn't see anything. Then the witch came towards her out of the darkness. "Come inside." she said, then a candle was magically lit, and the cave was bright. "Can you bring Penny back?" Ariel finally asked. "No." she said, frankly, "But, you don't need that. That's just one of your worries. I can make all your troubles disappear.". A long piece of paper with lots of writing on it appeared in front of her, along with a pen, "Just sign your name." Ursula said with a grin. Ariel pushed the paper away, "What's the price?". "It's free." she said, and she meant it. Ariel gave Ursula a suspicious look and signed her name. The paper and pen disappeared and suddenly, she was brought into the air, trapped in colorful swirls, she looked down, trying to figure a way out, but instead of her tail, she saw human legs. She held her breath and swam to the shore. "Help!" she shouted once she had flopped down on the sand, "Help me!".


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ariel woke up several days later in a strange room. "Wh…where am I?" she asked. She stayed in bed for a few minutes, trying to recover. Suddenly a maid walked in, she dropped the cloths she was holding, "She's awake!" she shouted. A man with dark hair ran into the room after a little while. He rushed to her side and Ariel sat up. "Are you okay?" he asked. She paused and took a deep breath, "I…I think so.". He pressed his palm against her forehead, "She doesn't seem to have a fever, and no other signs of illness." he told the maid, "What happened to you?" he asked as he turned to Ariel. She tried to remember what had happened, "Um…I was at the bottom of the ocean, and I couldn't breathe, and then…and then I got to the sand…and then I ended up here." . "How did you get to the bottom of the ocean?" he asked. "I…um…" she knew that if she told a human the truth, he would think her to be insane, "I…I was…I was fishing, and my boat, um, sank, and I sank, then I swam up, but I wasn't breathing, so I guess I passed out.". "Yeah…" he smiled and backed away a little, "I guess you did." he crossed his arms, "So…who are you?". "Ariel." she answered. "No…last name?" he paused, "Okay." he said after her she had remained silent, "My name is Prince Eric Andersen." he bowed. "Prince?" Ariel asked, shocked. He chuckled and nodded. "You mean, the entire time I've been asleep…" she lifted the covers off of herself, stood up, and began to walk towards Eric, "a prince has been looking after me?". The maid started to laugh and walked out of the room. Eric had a grin on his face, "I suppose a prince has been looking after you.". They stood in silence for a little while, staring at each other. "Well, I'll leave you to recuperate for a little while, come downstairs when you get hungry." he said, then walked out of the room. She stood there with a puzzled look and a smile on her face and watched him walk out of the room. Then she looked around the room and found some books and put together an outfit.

The outfit was a little bit ridiculous, a brown skirt with purple and light brown patches sewn in, a pale greeen, collared blouse with puffy sleeves, and a navy blue corset with yellow stripes. She put it on and walked downstairs for breakfast.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Ariel walked around the halls trying to find the dining room. A woman that looked about her age walked past her, stopped, then turned around and walked towards Ariel. "Who are you?" she asked. "Um," Ariel thought for a moment, "I'm Ariel…Ariel…Christiansen. My name is Ariel Christiansen.". "Oh…um, well it's nice to meet you, Ariel." the woman said with a smile, then she took Ariel's hand and shook it, "What brings you to our kingdom?". "I passed out, and I was unconscious and Eric saved me." she explained, "So…are you…like, his sister?". The woman laughed a little, "No." she smiled and looked towards the ground, "I'm Prince Andersen's fiancé.". "Oh." Ariel said in a disappointed tone, "Congratulations.". "Do you need some help finding your way around the castle?" the woman asked. "Um, yes…where might the dining room be? Eric told me that there's breakfast somewhere." she asked laughing a little. "Oh yes, it's right down those stairs then, into that hallway." she pointed in the direction of the dining room. Ariel stood there with a blank expression on her face. The woman smiled and giggled, "Would you like me to take you?". "Yes, please." Ariel said quietly, then did a small nod and began walking with the woman. They got to the dining room and the woman opened the door, "Here we are.". Ariel began to walk in, "Wait…I still don't know your name.". She had already begun walking down the hall when she turned her head, "Vanessa. Princess Vanessa Morgana Flotsam-Jetsam.".


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Ariel was pampered by the servants for a couple of hours. They straightened her hair, then gave her a new outfit. A white knee-length skirt and a half-sleeve, turquoise shirt with lace around the edges, and black flats. They put a little makeup on her, then let her out of the room. Eric was walking through the hall, then stopped, looked at Ariel, then started walking towards her. "Hello." he said with a smile, he held his arm out with his elbow bent, then she linked her arm with his. They both strolled down the hall. "So…what are we doing?" Ariel finally asked. "I am going to show you around the kingdom." he had a very proud look on his face, "The farmer's market is today.". She looked at him with a faint smile, "…what?". "Oh…a farmer's market, is a…market…with foods only grown by farmers in the kingdom." he explained. "Sounds fun." she said, they both started staring at the ground. Ariel could see tons of rooms on each wall, it was ridiculous, nothing like she'd ever seen. It took about 10 minutes just to exit that one hall. They walked down a huge, marble, spiral staircase, and finally arrived at the two large, wooden doors. Eric let go of her arm and opened the door for her, then gestured for her to go before him. They walked out of the door with grins on their faces and their arms linked.


End file.
